The Extraordinary Voyages of Jules Verne: From the Sea to the Air, from the Earth to the Moon

of the cannon being given, what would be the quantity of powdernecessary to produce the impulsion? This terrible agent, of which,however, man has made himself master, was destined to play a part inunusual proportions.

It is generally known and often asserted that gunpowder was invented inthe fourteenth century by the monk Schwartz, who paid for his greatdiscovery with his life. But it is nearly proved now that this storymust be ranked among the legends of the Middle Ages. Gunpowder wasinvented by no one; it is a direct product of Greek fire, composed, likeit, of sulphur and saltpetre; only since that epoch these mixtures;which were only dissolving, have been transformed into detonatingmixtures.

But if learned men know perfectly the false history of gunpowder, fewpeople are aware of its mechanical power. Now this is necessary to beknown in order to understand the importance of the question submitted tothe committee.

Thus a litre of gunpowder weighs about 2 lbs.; it produces, by burning,about 400 litres of gas; this gas, liberated, and under the action of atemperature of 2,400 deg., occupies the space of 4,000 litres. Therefore thevolume of powder is to the volume of gas produced by its deflagration as1 to 400. The frightful force of this gas, when it is compressed into aspace 4,000 times too small, may be imagined.

This is what the members of the committee knew perfectly when, the nextday, they began their sitting. Major Elphinstone opened the debate.

"My dear comrades," said the distinguished chemist, "I am going to beginwith some unexceptionable figures, which will serve as a basis for ourcalculation. The 24-lb. cannon-ball, of which the Hon. J.T. Maston spokethe day before yesterday, is driven out of the cannon by 16 lbs. ofpowder only."

"You are certain of your figures?" asked Barbicane.

"Absolutely certain," answered the major. "The Armstrong cannon onlyuses 75 lbs. of powder for a projectile of 800 lbs., and the RodmanColumbiad only expends 160 lbs. of powder to send its half-ton bulletsix miles. These facts cannot be doubted, for I found them myself in thereports of the Committee of Artillery."

"That is certain," answered the general.

"Well," resumed the major, "the conclusion to be drawn from thesefigures is that the quantity of powder does not augment with the weightof the shot; in fact, if a shot of 24 lbs. took 16 lbs. of powder, and,in other terms, if in ordinary cannons a quantity of powder weighingtwo-thirds of the weight of the projectile is used, this proportion isnot always necessary. Calculate, and you will see that for the shot ofhalf a ton weight, instead of 333 lbs. of powder, this quantity has beenreduced to 116 lbs. only.

"What are you driving at?" asked the president.

"The extreme of your theory, my dear major," said J.T. Maston, "wouldbring you to having no powder at all, provided your shot weresufficiently heavy."

"Friend Maston will have his joke even in the most serious things,"replied the major; "but he need not be uneasy; I shall soon propose aquantity of powder that will satisfy him. Only I wish to have itunderstood that during the war, and for the largest guns, the weight ofthe powder was reduced, after experience, to a tenth of the weight ofthe shot."

"Nothing is more exact," said Morgan; "but, before deciding the quantityof powder necessary to give the impulsion, I think it would be well toagree upon its nature."

"We shall use a large-grained powder," answered the major; "itsdeflagration is the most rapid."

"No doubt," replied Morgan; "but it is very brittle, and ends bydamaging the chamber of the gun."

"Certainly; but what would be bad for a gun destined for long servicewould not be so for our Columbiad. We run no danger of explosion, andthe powder must immediately take fire to make its mechanical effectcomplete."

"We might make several touchholes," said J.T. Maston, "so as to set fireto it in several places at the same time."

"No doubt," answered Elphinstone, "but that would make the working of itmore difficult. I therefore come back to my large-grained powder thatremoves these difficulties."

"So be it," answered the general.

"To load his Columbiad," resumed the major, "Rodman used a powder ingrains as large as chestnuts, made of willow charcoal, simply rarefiedin cast-iron pans. This powder was hard and shining, left no stain onthe hands, contained a great proportion of hydrogen and oxygen,deflagrated instantaneously, and, though very brittle, did not muchdamage the mouthpiece."

"Well, it seems to me," answered J.T. Maston, "that we have nothing tohesitate about, and that our choice is made."

"Unless you prefer gold-powder," replied the major, laughing, whichprovoked a threatening gesture from the steel hook of his susceptiblefriend.

Until then Barbicane had kept himself aloof from the discussion; helistened, and had evidently an idea. He contented himself with sayingsimply--

"Now, my friends, what quantity of powder do you propose?"

The three members of the Gun Club looked at one another for the space ofa minute.

"Two hundred thousand pounds," said Morgan at last.

"Five hundred thousand," replied the major.

"Eight hundred thousand," exclaimed J.T. Maston.

This, time Elphinstone dared not tax his colleague with exaggeration. Infact, the question was that of sending to the moon a projectile weighing20,000 lbs., and of giving it an initial force of 2000 yards a second. Amoment of silence, therefore, followed the triple proposition made bythe three colleagues.

It was at last broken by President Barbicane.

"My brave comrades," said he in a quiet tone, "I start from thisprinciple, that the resistance of our cannon, in the given conditions,is unlimited. I shall, therefore, surprise the Honourable J.T. Mastonwhen I tell him that he has been timid in his calculations, and Ipropose to double his 800,000 lbs. of powder."

"Sixteen hundred thousand pounds of powder," resumed the Secretary ofCommittee, "will occupy about a space of 22,000 cubic feet; now, as yourcannon will only hold about 54,000 cubic feet, it will be half full, andthe chamber will not be long enough to allow the explosion of the gas togive sufficient impulsion to your projectile."

There was nothing to answer. J.T. Maston spoke the truth. They alllooked at Barbicane.

"However," resumed the president, "I hold to that quantity of powder.Think! 1,600,000 pounds of powder will give 6,000,000,000 litres ofgas."

"Then how is it to be done?" asked the general.

"It is very simple. We must reduce this enormous quantity of powder,keeping at the same time its mechanical power."

"Good! By what means?"

"I will tell you," answered Barbicane simply.

His interlocutors all looked at him.

"Nothing is easier, in fact," he resumed, "than to bring that mass ofpowder to a volume four times less. You all know that curious cellularmatter which constitutes the elementary tissues of vegetables?"

"Ah!" said the major, "I understand you, Barbicane."

"This matter," said the president, "is obtained in perfect purity indifferent things, especially in cotton, which is nothing but the skin ofthe seeds of the cotton plant. Now cotton, combined with cold nitricacid, is transformed into a substance eminently insoluble, eminentlycombustible, eminently explosive. Some years ago, in 1832, a Frenchchemist, Braconnot, discovered this substance, which he calledxyloidine. In 1838, another Frenchman, Pelouze, studied its differentproperties; and lastly, in 1846, Schonbein, professor of chemistry atBasle, proposed it as gunpowder. This powder is nitric cotton."

"Or pyroxyle," answered Elphinstone.

"Or fulminating cotton," replied Morgan.

"Is there not an American name to put at the bottom of this discovery?"exclaimed J.T. Maston, animated by a lively sentiment of patriotism.

"Not one, unfortunately," replied the major.

"Nevertheless, to satisfy Maston," resumed the president, "I may tellhim that one of our fellow-citizens may be annexed to the study of thecelluosity, for collodion, which is one of the principal agents inphotography, is simply pyroxyle dissolved in ether to which alcohol hasbeen added, and it was discovered by Maynard, then a medical student."

"Hurrah for Maynard and fulminating cotton!" cried the noisy secretaryof the Gun Club.

"I return to pyroxyle," resumed Barbicane. "You are acquainted with itsproperties which make it so precious to us. It is prepared with thegreatest facility; cotton plunged in smoking nitric acid for fifteenminutes, then washed in water, then dried, and that is all."

"Nothing is more simple, certainty," said Morgan.

"What is more, pyroxyle is not damaged by moisture, a precious qualityin our eyes, as it will take several days to load the cannon. Itsinflammability takes place at 170 deg. instead of at 240 deg. and itsdeflagration is so immediate that it may be fired on ordinary gunpowderbefore the latter has time to catch fire too."

"Perfect," answered the major.

"Only it will cost more."

"What does that matter?" said J.T. Maston.

"Lastly, it communicates to projectiles a speed four times greater thanthat of gunpowder. I may even add that if 8/10ths of its weight ofnitrate of potash is added its expansive force is still greatlyaugmented."

"Will that be necessary?" asked the major.

"I do not think so," answered Barbicane. "Thus instead of 1,600,000 lbs.of powder, we shall only have 400,000 lbs. of fulminating cotton, and aswe can, without danger, compress 500 lbs. of cotton into 27 cubic feet,that quantity will not take up more than 180 feet in the chamber of theColumbiad. By these means the projectile will have more than 700 feet ofchamber to traverse under a force of 6,000,000,000 of litres of gasbefore taking its flight over the Queen of Night."

Here J.T. Maston could not contain his emotion. He threw himself intothe arms of his friend with the violence of a projectile, and he wouldhave been stove in had he not have been bombproof.

This incident ended the first sitting of the committee. Barbicane andhis enterprising colleagues, to whom nothing seemed impossible, had justsolved the complex question of the projectile, cannon, and powder. Theirplan being made, there was nothing left but to put it into execution.

CHAPTER X.

ONE ENEMY AGAINST TWENTY-FIVE MILLIONS OF FRIENDS.

The American public took great interest in the least details of the GunClub's enterprise. It followed the committee debates day by day. Themost simple preparations for this great experiment, the questions offigures it provoked, the mechanical difficulties to be solved, allexcited popular opinion to the highest pitch.

More than a year would elapse between the commencement of the work andits completion; but the interval would not be void of excitement. Theplace to be chosen for the boring, the casting the metal of theColumbiad, its perilous loading, all this was more than necessary toexcite public curiosity. The projectile, once fired, would be out ofsight in a few seconds; then what would become of it, how it wouldbehave in space, how it would reach the moon, none but a few privilegedpersons would see with their own eyes. Thus, then, the preparations forthe experiment and the precise details of its execution constituted thereal source of interest.

In the meantime the purely scientific attraction of the enterprise wasall at once heightened by an incident.

It is known what numerous legions of admirers and friends the Barbicaneproject had called round its author. But, notwithstanding the number andimportance of the majority, it was not destined to be unanimous. Oneman, one out of all the United States, protested against the Gun Club.He attacked it violently on every occasion, and--for human nature isthus constituted--Barbicane was more sensitive to this one man'sopposition than to the applause of all the others.

Nevertheless he well knew the motive of this antipathy, from whence camethis solitary enmity, why it was personal and of ancient date; lastly,in what rivalry it had taken root.

The president of the Gun Club had never seen this persevering enemy.Happily, for the meeting of the two men would certainly have haddisastrous consequences. This rival was a _savant_ like Barbicane, aproud, enterprising, determined, and violent character, a pure Yankee.His name was Captain Nicholl. He lived in Philadelphia.

No one is ignorant of the curious struggle which went on during theFederal war between the projectile and ironclad vessels, the formerdestined to pierce the latter, the latter determined not to be pierced.Thence came a radical transformation in the navies of the twocontinents. Cannon-balls and iron plates struggled for supremacy, theformer getting larger as the latter got thicker. Ships armed withformidable guns went into the fire under shelter of their invulnerablearmour. The Merrimac, Monitor, ram Tennessee, and Wechhausen shotenormous projectiles after having made themselves proof against theprojectiles of other ships. They did to others what they would not haveothers do to them, an immoral principle upon which the whole art of waris based.

Now Barbicane was a great caster of projectiles, and Nicholl was anequally great forger of plate-armour. The one cast night and day atBaltimore, the other forged day and night at Philadelphia. Each followedan essentially different current of ideas.

As soon as Barbicane had invented a new projectile, Nicholl invented anew plate armour. The president of the Gun Club passed his life inpiercing holes, the captain in preventing him doing it. Hence a constantrivalry which even touched their persons. Nicholl appeared inBarbicane's dreams as an impenetrable ironclad against which he split,and Barbicane in Nicholl's dreams appeared like a projectile whichripped him up.

Still, although they ran along two diverging lines, these _savants_would have ended by meeting each other in spite of all the axioms ingeometry; but then it would have been on a duel field. Happily for theseworthy citizens, so useful to their country, a distance of from fifty tosixty miles separated them, and their friends put such obstacles in theway that they never met.

At present it was not clearly known which of the two inventors held thepalm. The results obtained rendered a just decision difficult. Itseemed, however, that in the end armour-plate would have to give way toprojectiles. Nevertheless, competent men had their doubts. At the latestexperiments the cylindro-conical shots of Barbicane had no more effectthan pins upon Nicholl's armour-plate. That day the forger ofPhiladelphia believed himself victorious, and henceforth had nothing butdisdain for his rival. But when, later on, Barbicane substituted simplehowitzers of 600 lbs. for conical shots, the captain was obliged to godown in his own estimation. It fact, these projectiles, though ofmediocre velocity, drilled with holes and broke to pieces armour-plateof the best metal.

Things had reached this point and victory seemed to rest with theprojectile, when the war ended the very day that Nicholl terminated anew forged armour-plate. It was a masterpiece of its kind. It defied allthe projectiles in the world. The captain had it taken to the WashingtonPolygon and challenged the president of the Gun Club to pierce it.Barbicane, peace having been made, would not attempt the experiment.

Then Nicholl, in a rage, offered to expose his armour-plate to the shockof any kind of projectile, solid, hollow, round, or conical.

The president, who was determined not to compromise his last success,refused.

Nicholl, excited by this unqualified obstinacy, tried to tempt Barbicaneby leaving him every advantage. He proposed to put his plate 200 yardsfrom the gun. Barbicane still refused. At 100 yards? Not even at 75.

"At 50, then," cried the captain, through the newspapers, "at 25 yardsfrom my plate, and I will be behind it."

Barbicane answered that even if Captain Nicholl would be in front of ithe would not fire any more.

On this reply, Nicholl could no longer contain himself. He had recourseto personalities; he insinuated cowardice--that the man who refuses tofire a shot from a cannon is very nearly being afraid of it; that, inshort, the artillerymen who fight now at six miles distance haveprudently substituted mathematical formulae for individual courage, andthat there is as much bravery required to quietly wait for a cannon-ballbehind armour-plate as to send it according to all the rules of science.

To these insinuations Barbicane answered nothing. Perhaps he never knewabout them, for the calculations of his great enterprise absorbed himentirely.

When he made his famous communication to the Gun Club, the anger ofCaptain Nicholl reached its maximum. Mixed with it was supreme jealousyand a sentiment of absolute powerlessness. How could he invent anythingbetter than a Columbiad 900 feet long? What armour-plate could everresist a projectile of 30,000 lbs.? Nicholl was at first crushed by thiscannon-ball, then he recovered and resolved to crush the proposition bythe weight of his best arguments.

He therefore violently attacked the labours of the Gun Club. He sent anumber of letters to the newspapers, which they did not refuse topublish. He tried to demolish Barbicane's work scientifically. Once thewar begun, he called reasons of every kind to his aid, reasons it mustbe acknowledged often specious and of bad metal.

Firstly, Barbicane was violently attacked about his figures. Nicholltried to prove by A + B the falseness of his formulae, and he accusedhim of being ignorant of the rudimentary principles of ballistics.Amongst other errors, and according to Nicholl's own calculations, itwas impossible to give any body a velocity of 12,000 yards a second. Hesustained, algebra in hand, that even with that velocity a projectilethus heavy would never pass the limits of the terrestrial atmosphere. Itwould not even go eight leagues! Better still. Granted the velocity, andtaking it as sufficient, the shot would not resist the pressure of thegas developed by the combustion of 1,600,000 pounds of powder, and evenif it did resist that pressure, it at least would not support such atemperature; it would melt as it issued from the Columbiad, and wouldfall in red-hot rain on the heads of the imprudent spectators.

Barbicane paid no attention to these attacks, and went on with his work.

Then Nicholl considered the question in its other aspects. Withoutspeaking of its uselessness from all other points of view, he lookedupon the experiment as exceedingly dangerous, both for the citizens whoauthorised so condemnable a spectacle by their presence, and for thetowns near the deplorable cannon. He also remarked that if theprojectile did not reach its destination, a result absolutelyimpossible, it was evident that it would fall on to the earth again, andthat the fall of such a mass multiplied by the square of its velocitywould singularly damage some point on the globe. Therefore, in such acircumstance, and without any restriction being put upon the rights offree citizens, it was one of those cases in which the intervention ofgovernment became necessary, and the safety of all must not beendangered for the good pleasure of a single individual.

It will be seen to what exaggeration Captain Nicholl allowed himself tobe carried. He was alone in his opinion. Nobody took any notice of hisCassandra prophecies. They let him exclaim as much as he liked, till histhroat was sore if he pleased. He had constituted himself the defenderof a cause lost in advance. He was heard but not listened to, and he didnot carry off a single admirer from the president of the Gun Club, whodid not even take the trouble to refute his rival's arguments.

Nicholl, driven into his last intrenchments, and not being able to fightfor his opinion, resolved to pay for it. He therefore proposed in the_Richmond Inquirer_ a series of bets conceived in these terms and in anincreasing proportion.

He bet that--

1. The funds necessary for the Gun Club's enterprise would not beforthcoming, 1,000 dols.

2. That the casting of a cannon of 900 feet was impracticable and wouldnot succeed, 2,000 dols.

3. That it would be impossible to load the Columbiad, and that thepyroxyle would ignite spontaneously under the weight of the projectile,3,000 dols.

4. That the Columbiad would burst at the first discharge, 4,000 dols.

5. That the projectile would not even go six miles, and would fall a fewseconds after its discharge, 5,000 dols.

It will be seen that the captain was risking an important sum in hisinvincible obstinacy. No less than 15,000 dols. were at stake.

Notwithstanding the importance of the wager, he received on the 19th ofOctober a sealed packet of superb laconism, couched in these terms:--

"Baltimore, October 18th.

"Done.

"BARBICANE."

CHAPTER XI.

FLORIDA AND TEXAS.

There still remained one question to be decided--a place favourable tothe experiment had to be chosen. According to the recommendation of theCambridge Observatory the gun must be aimed perpendicularly to the planeof the horizon--that is to say, towards the zenith. Now the moon onlyappears in the zenith in the places situated between 0 deg. and 28 deg. oflatitude, or, in other terms, when her declination is only 28 deg.. Thequestion was, therefore, to determine the exact point of the globe wherethe immense Columbiad should be cast.

On the 20th of October the Gun Club held a general meeting. Barbicanebrought a magnificent map of the United States by Z. Belltropp. Butbefore he had time to unfold it J.T. Maston rose with his habitualvehemence, and began to speak as follows:--

"Honourable colleagues, the question we are to settle to-day is reallyof national importance, and will furnish us with an occasion for doing agreat act of patriotism."

The members of the Gun Club looked at each other without understandingwhat the orator was coming to.

"Not one of you," he continued, "would think of doing anything tolessen the glory of his country, and if there is one right that theUnion may claim it is that of harbouring in its bosom the formidablecannon of the Gun Club. Now, under the present circumstances--"

"Will you allow me--" said Barbicane.

"I demand the free discussion of ideas," replied the impetuous J.T.Maston, "and I maintain that the territory from which our gloriousprojectile will rise ought to belong to the Union."

"Certainly," answered several members.

"Well, then, as our frontiers do not stretch far enough, as on the souththe ocean is our limit, as we must seek beyond the United States and ina neighbouring country this 28th parallel, this is all a legitimate_casus belli_, and I demand that war should be declared against Mexico!"

"No, no!" was cried from all parts.

"No!" replied J.T. Maston. "I am much astonished at hearing such a wordin these precincts!"

"But listen--"

"Never! never!" cried the fiery orator. "Sooner or later this war willbe declared, and I demand that it should be this very day."

"Maston," said Barbicane, making his bell go off with a crash, "I agreewith you that the experiment cannot and ought not to be made anywherebut on the soil of the Union, but if I had been allowed to speak before,and you had glanced at this map, you would know that it is perfectlyuseless to declare war against our neighbours, for certain frontiers ofthe United States extend beyond the 28th parallel. Look, we have at ourdisposition all the southern part of Texas and Florida."

This incident had no consequences; still it was not without regret thatJ.T. Maston allowed himself to be convinced. It was, therefore, decidedthat the Columbiad should be cast either on the soil of Texas or on thatof Florida. But this decision was destined to create an unexampledrivalry between the towns of these two states.

The 28th parallel, when it touches the American coast, crosses thepeninsula of Florida, and divides it into two nearly equal portions.Then, plunging into the Gulf of Mexico, it subtends the arc formed bythe coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana; then skirting Texas,off which it cuts an angle, it continues its direction over Mexico,crosses the Sonora and Old California, and loses itself in the PacificOcean; therefore only the portions of Texas and Florida situated belowthis parallel fulfilled the requisite conditions of latitude recommendedby the Observatory of Cambridge.

The southern portion of Florida contains no important cities. It onlybristles with forts raised against wandering Indians. One town only,Tampa Town, could put in a claim in favour of its position.

In Texas, on the contrary, towns are more numerous and more important.Corpus Christi in the county of Nuaces, and all the cities situated onthe Rio Bravo, Laredo, Comalites, San Ignacio in Web, Rio Grande city inStarr, Edinburgh in Hidalgo, Santa-Rita, El Panda, and Brownsville inCameron, formed a powerful league against the pretensions of Florida.

The decision, therefore, was hardly made public before the Floridan andTexican deputies flocked to Baltimore by the shortest way. From thatmoment President Barbicane and the influential members of the Gun Clubwere besieged day and night by formidable claims. If seven towns ofGreece contended for the honour of being Homer's birthplace, two entirestates threatened to fight over a cannon.

These rival parties were then seen marching with weapons about thestreets of the town. Every time they met a fight was imminent, whichwould have had disastrous consequences. Happily the prudence and skillof President Barbicane warded off this danger. Personal demonstrationsfound an outlet in the newspapers of the different states. It was thusthat the _New York Herald_ and the _Tribune_ supported the claims ofTexas, whilst the _Times_ and the _American Review_ took the part of theFloridan deputies. The members of the Gun Club did not know which tolisten to.

Texas came up proudly with its twenty-six counties, which it seemed toput in array; but Florida answered that twelve counties proved more thantwenty-six in a country six times smaller.

Texas bragged of its 33,000 inhabitants; but Florida, much smaller,boasted of being much more densely populated with 56,000. Besides,Florida accused Texas of being the home of paludian fevers, whichcarried off, one year with another, several thousands of inhabitants,and Florida was not far wrong.

In its turn Texas replied that Florida need not envy its fevers, andthat it was, at least, imprudent to call other countries unhealthy whenFlorida itself had chronic "vomito negro," and Texas was not far wrong.

"Besides," added the Texicans through the _New York Herald_, "there arerights due to a state that grows the best cotton in all America, a statewhich produces holm oak for building ships, a state that contains superbcoal and mines of iron that yield fifty per cent. of pure ore."

To that the _American Review_ answered that the soil of Florida, thoughnot so rich, offered better conditions for the casting of the Columbiad,as it was composed of sand and clay-ground.

"But," answered the Texicans, "before anything can be cast in a place,it must get to that place; now communication with Florida is difficult,whilst the coast of Texas offers Galveston Bay, which is fourteenleagues round, and could contain all the fleets in the world."

"Any one would think, to hear you talk," cried Florida, "that I was asavage country."

"Well, the Seminoles do still wander over your prairies!"

"And what about your Apaches and your Comanches--are they civilised?"

The war had been thus kept up for some days when Florida tried to drawher adversary upon another ground, and one morning the _Times_insinuated that the enterprise being "essentially American," it oughtonly to be attempted upon an "essentially American" territory.

At these words Texas could not contain itself.

"American!" it cried, "are we not as American as you? Were not Texas andFlorida both incorporated in the Union in 1845?"

"Certainly," answered the _Times_, "but we have belonged to Americasince 1820."

"Yes," replied the _Tribune_, "after having been Spanish or English for200 years, you were sold to the United States for 5,000,000 of dollars!"

"What does that matter?" answered Florida. "Need we blush for that? Wasnot Louisiana bought in 1803 from Napoleon for 16,000,000 of dollars?"

"It is shameful!" then cried the Texican deputies. "A miserable slice ofland like Florida to dare to compare itself with Texas, which, insteadof being sold, made itself independent, which drove out the Mexicans onthe 2nd of March, 1836, which declared itself Federative Republicanafter the victory gained by Samuel Houston on the banks of the SanJacinto over the troops of Santa-Anna--a country, in short, whichvoluntarily joined itself to the United States of America!"

"Because it was afraid of the Mexicans!" answered Florida.

"Afraid!" From the day this word, really too cutting, was pronounced,the situation became intolerable. An engagement was expected between thetwo parties in the streets of Baltimore. The deputies were obliged to bewatched.

President Barbicane was half driven wild. Notes, documents, and lettersfull of threats inundated his house. Which course ought he to decideupon? In the point of view of fitness of soil, facility ofcommunications, and rapidity of transport, the rights of the two stateswere really equal. As to the political personalities, they had nothingto do with the question.

Now this hesitation and embarrassment had already lasted some time whenBarbicane resolved to put an end to it; he called his colleaguestogether, and the solution he proposed to them was a profoundly wiseone, as will be seen from the following:--

"After due consideration," said he, "of all that has just occurredbetween Florida and Texas, it is evident that the same difficulties willagain crop up between the towns of the favoured state. The rivalry willbe changed from state to city, and that is all. Now Texas containseleven towns with the requisite conditions that will dispute the honourof the enterprise, and that will create fresh troubles for us, whilstFlorida has but one; therefore I decide for Tampa Town!"

The Texican deputies were thunderstruck at this decision. It put theminto a terrible rage, and they sent nominal provocations to differentmembers of the Gun Club. There was only one course for the magistratesof Baltimore to take, and they took it. They had the steam of a specialtrain got up, packed the Texicans into it, whether they would or no, andsent them away from the town at a speed of thirty miles an hour.

But they were not carried off too quickly to hurl a last and threateningsarcasm at their adversaries.

Making allusion to the width of Florida, a simple peninsula between twoseas, they pretended it would not resist the shock, and would be blownup the first time the cannon was fired.

"Very well! let it be blown up!" answered the Floridans with a laconismworthy of ancient times.

CHAPTER XII.

"URBI ET ORBI."

The astronomical, mechanical, and topographical difficulties onceremoved, there remained the question of money. An enormous sum wasnecessary for the execution of the project. No private individual, nosingle state even, could have disposed of the necessary millions.

President Barbicane had resolved--although the enterprise wasAmerican--to make it a business of universal interest, and to ask everynation for its financial co-operation. It was the bounded right and dutyof all the earth to interfere in the business of the satellite. Thesubscription opened at Baltimore, for this end extended thence to allthe world--_urbi et orbi_.

This subscription was destined to succeed beyond all hope; yet the moneywas to be given, not lent. The operation was purely disinterested, inthe literal meaning of the word, and offered no chance of gain.

But the effect of Barbicane's communication had not stopped at thefrontiers of the United States; it had crossed the Atlantic and Pacific,had invaded both Asia and Europe, both Africa and Oceania. Theobservatories of the Union were immediately put into communication withthe observatories of foreign countries; some--those of Paris, St.Petersburg, the Cape, Berlin, Altona, Stockholm, Warsaw, Hamburg, Buda,Bologna, Malta, Lisbon, Benares, Madras, and Pekin--sent theircompliments to the Gun Club; the others prudently awaited the result.

As to the Greenwich Observatory, seconded by the twenty-two astronomicalestablishments of Great Britain, it made short work of it; it boldlydenied the possibility of success, and took up Captain Nicholl'stheories. Whilst the different scientific societies promised to senddeputies to Tampa Town, the Greenwich staff met and contemptuouslydismissed the Barbicane proposition. This was pure English jealousy andnothing else.

Generally speaking, the effect upon the world of science was excellent,and from thence it passed to the masses, who, in general, were greatlyinterested in the question, a fact of great importance, seeing thosemasses were to be called upon to subscribe a considerable capital.

On the 8th of October President Barbicane issued a manifesto, full ofenthusiasm, in which he made appeal to "all persons on the face of theearth willing to help." This document, translated into every language,had great success.

Three days after President Barbicane's manifesto 400,000 dollars werereceived in the different towns of the Union. With such a sum in handthe Gun Club could begin at once.

But a few days later telegrams informed America that foreignsubscriptions were pouring in rapidly. Certain countries weredistinguished by their generosity; others let go their money lesseasily. It was a matter of temperament.

However, figures are more eloquent than words, and the following is anofficial statement of the sums paid to the credit of the Gun Club whenthe subscription was closed:--

The contingent of Russia was the enormous sum of 368,733 roubles. Thisneed astonish no one who remembers the scientific taste of the Russiansand the impetus which they have given to astronomical studies, thanks totheir numerous observatories, the principal of which cost 2,000,000roubles.

France began by laughing at the pretensions of the Americans. The moonserved as an excuse for a thousand stale puns and a score of vaudevillesin which bad taste contested the palm with ignorance. But, as the Frenchformerly paid after singing, they now paid after laughing, andsubscribed a sum of 1,258,930 francs. At that price they bought theright to joke a little.

Austria, in the midst of her financial difficulties, was sufficientlygenerous. Her part in the public subscription amounted to 216,000florins, which were welcome.

Sweden and Norway contributed 52,000 rix-dollars. The figure was smallconsidering the country; but it would certainly have been higher if asubscription had been opened at Christiania as well as at Stockholm. Forsome reason or other the Norwegians do not like to send their money toNorway.

Prussia, by sending 250,000 thalers, testified her approbation of theenterprise. Her different observatories contributed an important sum,and were amongst the most ardent in encouraging President Barbicane.

Turkey behaved generously, but she was personally interested in thebusiness; the moon, in fact, rules the course of her years and herRamadan fast. She could do no less than give 1,372,640 piastres, and shegave them with an ardour that betrayed, however, a certain pressure fromthe Government of the Porte.

Belgium distinguished herself amongst all the second order of States bya gift of 513,000 francs, about one penny and a fraction for eachinhabitant.

Holland and her colonies contributed 110,000 florins, only demanding adiscount of five per cent., as she paid ready money.

The Germanic Confederation subscribed 34,285 florins; more could not beasked from her; besides, she would not have given more.

Although in embarrassed circumstances, Italy found 2,000,000 francs inher children's pockets, but by turning them well inside out. If she hadthen possessed Venetia she would have given more, but she did not yetpossess Venetia.

The Pontifical States thought they could not send less than 7,040 Romancrowns, and Portugal pushed her devotion to the extent of 3,000cruzades.

Mexico gent the widow's mite, 86 piastres; but empires in course offormation are always in rather embarrassed circumstances.

Switzerland sent the modest sum of 257 francs to the American scheme. Itmust be frankly stated that Switzerland only looked upon the practicalside of the operation; the action of sending a bullet to the moon didnot seem of a nature sufficient for the establishing of anycommunication with the Queen of Night, so Switzerland thought itimprudent to engage capital in an enterprise depending upon suchuncertain events. After all, Switzerland was, perhaps, right.

As to Spain, she found it impossible to get together more than 110reals. She gave as an excuse that she had her railways to finish. Thetruth is that science is not looked upon very favourably in thatcountry; it is still a little behindhand. And then certain Spaniards,and not the most ignorant either, had no clear conception of the size ofthe projectile compared with that of the moon; they feared it mightdisturb the satellite from her orbit, and make her fall on to thesurface of the terrestrial globe. In that case it was better to havenothing to do with it, which they carried out, with that smallexception.

England alone remained. The contemptuous antipathy with which shereceived Barbicane's proposition is known. The English have but a singlemind in their 25,000,000 of bodies which Great Britain contains. Theygave it to be understood that the enterprise of the Gun Club wascontrary "to the principle of non-intervention," and they did notsubscribe a single farthing.

At this news the Gun Club contented itself with shrugging its shoulders,and returned to its great work. When South America--that is to say,Peru, Chili, Brazil, the provinces of La Plata and Columbia--had pouredinto their hands their quota of 300,000 dollars, it found itselfpossessed of a considerable capital of which the following is astatement:--

This was the large sum poured by the public into the coffers of the GunClub.

No one need be surprised at its importance. The work of casting, boring,masonry, transport of workmen, and their installation in an almostuninhabited country, the construction of furnaces and workshops, themanufacturing tools, powder, projectile and incidental expenses would,according to the estimates, absorb nearly the whole. Some of thecannon-shots fired during the war cost 1,000 dollars each; that ofPresident Barbicane, unique in the annals of artillery, might well cost5,000 times more.

On the 20th of October a contract was made with the GoldspringManufactory, New York, which during the war had furnished Parrott withhis best cast-iron guns.

It was stipulated between the contracting parties that the GoldspringManufactory should pledge itself to send to Tampa Town, in SouthFlorida, the necessary materials for the casting of the Columbiad.

This operation was to be terminated, at the latest, on the 15th of thenext October, and the cannon delivered in good condition, under penaltyof 100 dollars a day forfeit until the moon should again present herselfunder the same conditions--that is to say, during eighteen years andeleven days.

The engagement of the workmen, their pay, and the necessary transportsall to be made by the Goldspring Company.

This contract, made in duplicate, was signed by I. Barbicane, presidentof the Gun Club, and J. Murphison, Manager of the GoldspringManufactory, who thus signed on the part of the contracting parties.

CHAPTER XIII.

STONY HILL.

Since the choice made by the members of the Gun Club to the detriment ofTexas, every one in America--where every one knows how to read--made ithis business to study the geography of Florida. Never before had thebooksellers sold so many _Bertram's Travels in Florida_, _Roman'sNatural History of East and West Florida_, _Williams' Territory ofFlorida_, and _Cleland on the Culture of the Sugar Cane in EastFlorida_. New editions of these works were required. There was quite arage for them.

Barbicane had something better to do than to read; he wished to see withhis own eyes and choose the site of the Columbiad. Therefore, withoutlosing a moment, he put the funds necessary for the construction of atelescope at the disposition of the Cambridge Observatory, and made acontract with the firm of Breadwill and Co., of Albany, for the makingof the aluminium projectile; then he left Baltimore accompanied by J.T.Maston, Major Elphinstone, and the manager of the GoldspringManufactory.

The next day the four travelling companions reached New Orleans. Therethey embarked on board the _Tampico_, a despatch-boat belonging to theFederal Navy, which the Government had placed at their disposal, and,with all steam on, they quickly lost sight of the shores of Louisiana.

The passage was not a long one; two days after its departure the_Tampico_, having made four hundred and eighty miles, sighted theFloridian coast. As it approached, Barbicane saw a low, flat coast,looking rather unfertile. After coasting a series of creeks rich inoysters and lobsters, the _Tampico_ entered the Bay of Espiritu-Santo.

This bay is divided into two long roadsteads, those of Tampa andHillisboro, the narrow entrance to which the steamer soon cleared. Ashort time afterwards the batteries of Fort Brooke rose above the wavesand the town of Tampa appeared, carelessly lying on a little naturalharbour formed by the mouth of the river Hillisboro.

There the _Tampico_ anchored on October 22nd, at seven p.m.; the fourpassengers landed immediately.

Barbicane felt his heart beat violently as he set foot on Floridiansoil; he seemed to feel it with his feet like an architect trying thesolidity of a house. J.T. Maston scratched the ground with his steelhook.

"Gentlemen," then said Barbicane, "we have no time to lose, and we willset off on horseback to-morrow to survey the country."

The minute Barbicane landed the three thousand inhabitants of Tampa Townwent out to meet him, an honour quite due to the president of the GunClub, who had decided in their favour. They received him with formidableexclamations, but Barbicane escaped an ovation by shutting himself up inhis room at the Franklin Hotel and refusing to see any one.

The next day, October 23rd, small horses of Spanish race, full of fireand vigour, pawed the ground under his windows. But, instead of four,there were fifty, with their riders. Barbicane went down accompanied byhis three companions, who were at first astonished to find themselves inthe midst of such a cavalcade. He remarked besides that each horsemancarried a carbine slung across his shoulders and pistols in hisholsters. The reason for such a display of force was immediately givenhim by a young Floridian, who said to him--

"Sir, the Seminoles are there."

"What Seminoles?"

"Savages who frequent the prairies, and we deemed it prudent to give youan escort."

"Pooh!" exclaimed J.T. Maston as he mounted his steed.

"It is well to be on the safe side," answered the Floridian.

"Gentlemen," replied Barbicane, "I thank you for your attention, and nowlet us be off."

The little troop set out immediately, and disappeared in a cloud ofdust. It was five a.m.; the sun shone brilliantly already, and thethermometer indicated 84 deg., but fresh sea breezes moderated thisexcessive heat.

Barbicane, on leaving Tampa Town, went down south and followed the coastto Alifia Creek. This small river falls into Hillisboro Bay, twelvemiles below Tampa Town. Barbicane and his escort followed its right bankgoing up towards the east. The waves of the bay disappeared behind aninequality in the ground, and the Floridian country was alone in sight.

Florida is divided into two parts; the one to the north, more populousand less abandoned, has Tallahassee for capital, and Pensacola, one ofthe principal marine arsenals of the United States; the other, lyingbetween the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, is only a narrow peninsula,eaten away by the current of the Gulf Stream--a little tongue of landlost amidst a small archipelago, which the numerous vessels of theBahama Channel double continually. It is the advanced sentinel of thegulf of great tempests. The superficial area of this state measures38,033,267 acres, amongst which one had to be chosen situated beyond the28th parallel and suitable for the enterprise. As Barbicane rode alonghe attentively examined the configuration of the ground and itsparticular distribution.

Florida, discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1512, on Palm Sunday, wasfirst of all named _Pascha Florida_. It was well worthy of thatdesignation with its dry and arid coasts. But a few miles from the shorethe nature of the ground gradually changed, and the country showeditself worthy of its name; the soil was cut up by a network of creeks,rivers, watercourses, ponds, and small lakes; it might have beenmistaken for Holland or Guiana; but the ground gradually rose and soonshowed its cultivated plains, where all the vegetables of the North andSouth grow in perfection, its immense fields, where a tropical sun andthe water conserved in its clayey texture do all the work ofcultivating, and lastly its prairies of pineapples, yams, tobacco, rice,cotton, and sugarcanes, which extended as far as the eye could reach,spreading out their riches with careless prodigality.

Barbicane appeared greatly satisfied on finding the progressiveelevation of the ground, and when J.T. Maston questioned him on thesubject,

"In order to be nearer the moon?" exclaimed the secretary of the GunClub.

"No," answered Barbicane, smiling. "What can a few yards more or lessmatter? No, but on elevated ground our work can be accomplished moreeasily; we shall not have to struggle against water, which will save uslong and expensive tubings, and that has to be taken into considerationwhen a well 900 feet deep has to be sunk."

"You are right," said Murchison, the engineer; "we must, as much aspossible, avoid watercourses during the casting; but if we meet withsprings they will not matter much; we can exhaust them with our machinesor divert them from their course. Here we have not to work at anartesian well, narrow and dark, where all the boring implements have towork in the dark. No; we can work under the open sky, with spade andpickaxe, and, by the help of blasting, our work will not take long."

"Still," resumed Barbicane, "if by the elevation of the ground or itsnature we can avoid a struggle with subterranean waters, we can do ourwork more rapidly and perfectly; we must, therefore, make our cutting inground situated some thousands of feet above the level of the sea."

"You are right, Mr. Barbicane, and, if I am not mistaken, we shall soonfind a suitable spot."

"I should like to see the first spadeful turned up," said the president.

"And I the last!" exclaimed J.T. Maston.

"We shall manage it, gentlemen," answered the engineer; "and, believeme, the Goldspring Company will not have to pay you any forfeit fordelay."

"Faith! it had better not," replied J.T. Maston; "a hundred dollars aday till the moon presents herself in the same conditions--that is tosay, for eighteen years and eleven days--do you know that would make658,000 dollars?"

"No, sir, we do not know, and we shall not need to learn."

About ten a.m. the little troop had journeyed about twelve miles; to thefertile country succeeded a forest region. There were the most variedperfumes in tropical profusion. The almost impenetrable forests weremade up of pomegranates, orange, citron, fig, olive, and apricot trees,bananas, huge vines, the blossoms and fruit of which rivalled each otherin colour and perfume. Under the perfumed shade of these magnificenttrees sang and fluttered a world of brilliantly-coloured birds, amongstwhich the crab-eater deserved a jewel casket, worthy of its featheredgems, for a nest.

J.T. Maston and the major could not pass through such opulent naturewithout admiring its splendid beauty.

But President Barbicane, who thought little of these marvels, was in ahurry to hasten onwards; this country, so fertile, displeased him by itsvery fertility; without being otherwise hydropical, he felt water underhis feet, and sought in vain the signs of incontestable aridity.

In the meantime they journeyed on. They were obliged to ford severalrivers, and not without danger, for they were infested with alligatorsfrom fifteen to eighteen feet long. J.T. Maston threatened them boldlywith his formidable hook, but he only succeeded in frightening thepelicans, phaetons, and teals that frequented the banks, while the redflamingoes looked on with a stupid stare.

At last these inhabitants of humid countries disappeared in their turn.The trees became smaller and more thinly scattered in smaller woods;some isolated groups stood amidst immense plains where ranged herds ofstartled deer.

"At last!" exclaimed Barbicane, rising in his stirrups. "Here is theregion of pines."

"And savages," answered the major.

In fact, a few Seminoles appeared on the horizon. They moved aboutbackwards and forwards on their fleet horses, brandishing long lances orfiring their guns with a dull report. However, they confined themselvesto these hostile demonstrations, which had no effect on Barbicane andhis companions.

They were then in the middle of a rocky plain, a vast open space ofseveral acres in extent which the sun covered with burning rays. It wasformed by a wide elevation of the soil, and seemed to offer to themembers of the Gun Club all the required conditions for the constructionof their Columbiad.

"Halt!" cried Barbicane, stopping. "Has this place any name?"

"It is called Stony Hill," answered the Floridians.

Barbicane, without saying a word, dismounted, took his instruments, andbegan to fix his position with extreme precision. The little troop drawnup around him watched him in profound silence.

At that moment the sun passed the meridian. Barbicane, after aninterval, rapidly noted the result of his observation, and said--

"This place is situated 1,800 feet above the sea level in lat. 27 deg. 7'and West long. 5 deg. 7' by the Washington meridian. It appears to me by itsbarren and rocky nature to offer every condition favourable to ourenterprise; we will therefore raise our magazines, workshops, furnaces,and workmen's huts here, and it is from this very spot," said he,stamping upon it with his foot, "the summit of Stony Hill, that ourprojectile will start for the regions of the solar world!"

CHAPTER XIV.

PICKAXE AND TROWEL.

That same evening Barbicane and his companions returned to Tampa Town,and Murchison, the engineer, re-embarked on board the _Tampico_ for NewOrleans. He was to engage an army of workmen to bring back the greaterpart of the working-stock. The members of the Gun Club remained at TampaTown in order to set on foot the preliminary work with the assistance ofthe inhabitants of the country.

Eight days after its departure the _Tampico_ returned to theEspiritu-Santo Bay with a fleet of steamboats. Murchison had succeededin getting together 1,500 workmen. In the evil days of slavery he wouldhave lost his time and trouble; but since America, the land of liberty,has only contained freemen, they flock wherever they can get good pay.Now money was not wanting to the Gun Club; it offered a high rate ofwages with considerable and proportionate perquisites. The workmanenlisted for Florida could, once the work finished, depend upon acapital placed in his name in the bank of Baltimore.

Murchison had therefore only to pick and choose, and could be severeabout the intelligence and skill of his workmen. He enrolled in hisworking legion the pick of mechanics, stokers, iron-founders,lime-burners, miners, brickmakers, and artisans of every sort, white orblack without distinction of colour. Many of them brought their familieswith them. It was quite an emigration.

On the 31st of October, at 10 a.m., this troop landed on the quays ofTampa Town. The movement and activity which reigned in the little townthat had thus doubled its population in a single day may be imagined. Infact, Tampa Town was enormously benefited by this enterprise of the GunClub, not by the number of workmen who were immediately drafted to StonyHill, but by the influx of curious idlers who converged by degrees fromall points of the globe towards the Floridian peninsula.

During the first few days they were occupied in unloading the flotillaof the tools, machines, provisions, and a large number of plate ironhouses made in pieces separately pieced and numbered. At the same timeBarbicane laid the first sleepers of a railway fifteen miles long thatwas destined to unite Stony Hill and Tampa Town.

It is known how American railways are constructed, with capriciousbends, bold slopes, steep hills, and deep valleys. They do not cost muchand are not much in their way, only their trains run off or jump off asthey please. The railway from Tampa Town to Stony Hill was but a trifle,and wanted neither much time nor much money for its construction.

Barbicane was the soul of this army of workmen who had come at his call.He animated them, communicated to them his ardour, enthusiasm, andconviction. He was everywhere at once, as if endowed with the gift ofubiquity, and always followed by J.T. Maston, his bluebottle fly. Hispractical mind invented a thousand things. With him there were noobstacles, difficulties, or embarrassment. He was as good a miner,mason, and mechanic as he was an artilleryman, having an answer to everyquestion, and a solution to every problem. He corresponded actively withthe Gun Club and the Goldspring Manufactory, and day and night the_Tampico_ kept her steam up awaiting his orders in Hillisboro harbour.

Barbicane, on the 1st of November, left Tampa Town with a detachment ofworkmen, and the very next day a small town of workmen's houses roseround Stony Hill. They surrounded it with palisades, and from itsmovement and ardour it might soon have been taken for one of the greatcities of the Union. Life was regulated at once and work began inperfect order.

Careful boring had established the nature of the ground, and digging wasbegun on November 4th. That day Barbicane called his foremen togetherand said to them--

"You all know, my friends, why I have called you together in this partof Florida. We want to cast a cannon nine feet in diameter, six feetthick, and with a stone revetment nineteen and a half feet thick; wetherefore want a well 60 feet wide and 900 feet deep. This large workmust be terminated in nine months. You have, therefore, 2,543,400 cubicfeet of soil to dig out in 255 days--that is to say, 10,000 cubic feet aday. That would offer no difficulty if you had plenty of elbow-room, butas you will only have a limited space it will be more trouble.Nevertheless as the work must be done it will be done, and I depend uponyour courage as much as upon your skill."

At 8 a.m. the first spadeful was dug out of the Floridian soil, and fromthat moment this useful tool did not stop idle a moment in the hands ofthe miner. The gangs relieved each other every three hours.

Besides, although the work was colossal it did not exceed the limit ofhuman capability. Far from that. How many works of much greaterdifficulty, and in which the elements had to be more directly contendedagainst, had been brought to a successful termination! Suffice it tomention the well of Father Joseph, made near Cairo by the Sultan Saladinat an epoch when machines had not yet appeared to increase the strengthof man a hundredfold, and which goes down to the level of the Nileitself at a depth of 300 feet! And that other well dug at Coblentz bythe Margrave Jean of Baden, 600 feet deep! All that was needed was atriple depth and a double width, which made the boring easier. There wasnot one foreman or workman who doubted about the success of theoperation.

An important decision taken by Murchison and approved of by Barbicaneaccelerated the work. An article in the contract decided that theColumbiad should be hooped with wrought-iron--a useless precaution, forthe cannon could evidently do without hoops. This clause was thereforegiven up. Hence a great economy of time, for they could then employ thenew system of boring now used for digging wells, by which the masonry isdone at the same time as the boring. Thanks to this very simpleoperation they were not obliged to prop up the ground; the wall kept itup and went down by its own weight.

This manoeuvre was only to begin when the spade should have reached thesolid part of the ground.

On the 4th of November fifty workmen began to dig in the very centre ofthe inclosure surrounded by palisades--that is to say, the top of StonyHill--a circular hole sixty feet wide.

The spade first turned up a sort of black soil six inches deep, which itsoon carried away. To this soil succeeded two feet of fine sand, whichwas carefully taken out, as it was to be used for the casting.

After this sand white clay appeared, similar to English chalk, and whichwas four feet thick.

Then the pickaxes rang upon the hard layer, a species of rock formed byvery dry petrified shells. At that point the hole was six and a halffeet deep, and the masonry was begun.

At the bottom of that excavation they made an oak wheel, a sort ofcircle strongly bolted and of enormous strength; in its centre a holewas pierced the size of the exterior diameter of the Columbiad. It wasupon this wheel that the foundations of the masonry were placed, thehydraulic cement of which joined the stones solidly together. After theworkmen had bricked up the space from the circumference to the centre,they found themselves inclosed in a well twenty-one feet wide.

When this work was ended the miners began again with spade and pickaxe,and set upon the rock under the wheel itself, taking care to support iton extremely strong tressels; every time the hole was two feet deeperthey took away the tressels; the wheel gradually sank, taking with itits circle of masonry, at the upper layer of which the masons workedincessantly, taking care to make vent-holes for the escape of gas duringthe operation of casting.

This kind of work required great skill and constant attention on thepart of the workmen; more than one digging under the wheel wasdangerous, and some were even mortally wounded by the splinters ofstone; but their energy did not slacken for a moment by day nor night;by day, when the sun's rays sent the thermometer up to 99 deg. on thecalcined planes; by night, under the white waves of electric light, thenoise of the pickaxe on the rock, the blasting and the machines,together with the wreaths of smoke scattered through the air, traced acircle of terror round Stony Hill, which the herds of buffaloes and thedetachments of Seminoles never dared to pass.

In the meantime the work regularly advanced; steam-cranes speeded thecarrying away of the rubbish; of unexpected obstacles there were none;all the difficulties had been foreseen and guarded against.

When the first month had gone by the well had attained the depthassigned for the time--i.e., 112 feet. In December this depth wasdoubled, and tripled in January. During February the workmen had tocontend against a sheet of water which sprang from the ground. They wereobliged to employ powerful pumps and apparatus of compressed air todrain it off, so as to close up the orifice from which it issued, justas leaks are caulked on board ship. At last they got the better of theseunwelcome springs, only in consequence of the loosening of the soil thewheel partially gave way, and there was a landslip. The frightful forceof this bricked circle, more than 400 feet high, may be imagined! Thisaccident cost the life of several workmen. Three weeks had to be takenup in propping the stone revetment and making the wheel solid again.But, thanks to the skill of the engineer and the power of the machines,it was all set right, and the boring continued.

No fresh incident henceforth stopped the progress of the work, and onthe 10th of June, twenty days before the expiration of the delay fixedby Barbicane, the well, quite bricked round, had reached the depth of900 feet. At the bottom the masonry rested upon a massive block, thirtyfeet thick, whilst at the top it was on a level with the soil.

President Barbicane and the members of the Gun Club warmly congratulatedthe engineer Murchison; his cyclopean work had been accomplished withextraordinary rapidity.

During these eight months Barbicane did not leave Stony Hill for aminute; whilst he narrowly watched over the boring operations, he tookevery precaution to insure the health and well-being of his workmen, andhe was fortunate enough to avoid the epidemics common to largeagglomerations of men, and so disastrous in those regions of the globeexposed to tropical influence.

It is true that several workmen paid with their lives for thecarelessness engendered by these dangerous occupations; but suchdeplorable misfortunes cannot be avoided, and these are details thatAmericans pay very little attention to. They are more occupied withhumanity in general than with individuals in particular. However,Barbicane professed the contrary principles, and applied them upon everyoccasion. Thanks to his care, to his intelligence and respectfulintervention in difficult cases, to his prodigious and humane wisdom,the average of catastrophes did not exceed that of cities on the otherside of the Atlantic, amongst others those of France, where they countabout one accident upon every 200,000 francs of work.

CHAPTER XV.

THE CEREMONY OF THE CASTING.

During the eight months that were employed in the operation of boringthe preparatory works of the casting had been conducted simultaneouslywith extreme rapidity; a stranger arriving at Stony Hill would have beenmuch surprised at what he saw there.

Six hundred yards from the well, and standing in a circle round it as acentral point, were 1,200 furnaces, each six feet wide and three yardsapart. The line made by these 1,200 furnaces was two miles long. Theywere all built on the same model, with high quadrangular chimneys, andhad a singular effect. J.T. Maston thought the architectural arrangementsuperb. It reminded him of the monuments at Washington. He thought therewas nothing finer in the world, not even in Greece, where heacknowledged never to have been.

It will be remembered that at their third meeting the committee decidedto use cast-iron for the Columbiad, and in particular the greydescription. This metal is, in fact, the most tenacious, ductile, andmalleable, suitable for all moulding operations, and when smelted withpit coal it is of superior quality for engine-cylinders, hydraulicpresses, &c.

But cast-iron, if it has undergone a single fusion, is rarelyhomogeneous enough; and it is by means of a second fusion that it ispurified, refined, and dispossessed of its last earthly deposits.

Before being forwarded to Tampa Town, the iron ore, smelted in the greatfurnaces of Goldspring, and put in contact with coal and silicium heatedto a high temperature, was transformed into cast-iron. After this firstoperation the metal was taken to Stony Hill. But there were 136 millionsof pounds of cast-iron, a bulk too expensive to be sent by railway; theprice of transport would have doubled that of the raw material. Itappeared preferable to freight vessels at New York and to load them withthe iron in bars; no less than sixty-eight vessels of 1,000 tons wererequired, quite a fleet, which on May 3rd left New York, took the Oceanroute, coasted the American shores, entered the Bahama Channel, doubledthe point of Florida, and on the 10th of the same month entered the Bayof Espiritu-Santo and anchored safely in the port of Tampa Town. Therethe vessels were unloaded and their cargo carried by railway to StonyHill, and about the middle of January the enormous mass of metal wasdelivered at its destination.

It will easily be understood that 1,200 furnaces were not too many tomelt these 60,000 tons of iron simultaneously. Each of these furnacescontained about 1,400,000 lbs. of metal; they had been built on themodel of those used for the casting of the Rodman gun; they weretrapezoidal in form, with a high elliptical arch. The warming apparatusand the chimney were placed at the two extremities of the furnace, sothat it was equally heated throughout. These furnaces, built offireproof brick, were filled with coal-grates and a "sole" for the barsof iron; this sole, inclosed at an angle of 25 deg., allowed the metal toflow into the receiving-troughs; from thence 1,200 converging trenchescarried it down to the central well.

The day following that upon which the works of masonry and casting wereterminated, Barbicane set to work upon the interior mould; his objectnow was to raise in the centre of the well, with a coincident axis, acylinder 900 feet high and nine in diameter, to exactly fill up thespace reserved for the bore of the Columbiad. This cylinder was made ofa mixture of clay and sand, with the addition of hay and straw. Thespace left between the mould and the masonry was to be filled with themolten metal, which would thus make the sides of the cannon six feetthick.

This cylinder, in order to have its equilibrium maintained, had to beconsolidated with iron bands and fixed at intervals by means ofcross-clamps fastened into the stone lining; after the casting theseclamps would be lost in the block of metal, which would not be the worsefor them.

This operation was completed on the 8th of July, and the casting wasfixed for the 10th.

"The casting will be a fine ceremony," said J.T. Maston to his friendBarbicane.

"Undoubtedly," answered Barbicane, "but it will not be a public one!"

"What! you will not open the doors of the inclosure to all comers?"

"Certainly not; the casting of the Columbiad is a delicate, not to say adangerous, operation, and I prefer that it should be done with closeddoors. When the projectile is discharged you may have a public ceremonyif you like, but till then, no!"

The president was right; the operation might be attended with unforeseendanger, which a large concourse of spectators would prevent beingaverted. It was necessary to preserve complete freedom of movement. Noone was admitted into the inclosure except a delegation of members ofthe Gun Club who made the voyage to Tampa Town. Among them was the briskBilsby, Tom Hunter, Colonel Blomsberry, Major Elphinstone, GeneralMorgan, and _tutti quanti_, to whom the casting of the Columbiad was apersonal business. J.T. Maston constituted himself their cicerone; hedid not excuse them any detail; he led them about everywhere, throughthe magazines, workshops, amongst the machines, and he forced them tovisit the 1,200 furnaces one after the other. At the end of the 1,200thvisit they were rather sick of it.

The casting was to take place precisely at twelve o'clock; the eveningbefore each furnace had been charged with 114,000 lbs. of metal in barsdisposed crossway to each other so that the warm air could circulatefreely amongst them. Since early morning the 1,200 chimneys had beenpouring forth volumes of flames into the atmosphere, and the soil wasshaken convulsively. There were as many pounds of coal to be burnt asmetal to be melted. There were, therefore, 68,000 tons of coal throwingup before the sun a thick curtain of black smoke.

The heat soon became unbearable in the circle of furnaces, the ramblingof which resembled the rolling of thunder; powerful bellows added theircontinuous blasts, and saturated the incandescent furnaces with oxygen.

The operation of casting in order to succeed must be done rapidly. At asignal given by a cannon-shot each furnace was to pour out the liquidiron and to be entirely emptied.

These arrangements made, foremen and workmen awaited the preconcertedmoment with impatience mixed with emotion. There was no longer any onein the inclosure, and each superintendent took his place near theaperture of the run.

Barbicane and his colleagues, installed on a neighbouring eminence,assisted at the operation. Before them a cannon was planted ready to befired as a sign from the engineer.

A few minutes before twelve the first drops of metal began to run; thereservoirs were gradually filled, and when the iron was all in a liquidstate it was left quiet for some instants in order to facilitate theseparation of foreign substances.

Twelve o'clock struck. The cannon was suddenly fired, and shot its flameinto the air. Twelve hundred tapping-holes were opened simultaneously,and twelve hundred fiery serpents crept along twelve hundred troughstowards the central well, rolling in rings of fire. There they plungedwith terrific noise down a depth of 900 feet. It was an exciting andmagnificent spectacle. The ground trembled, whilst these waves of iron,throwing into the sky their clouds of smoke, evaporated at the same timethe humidity of the mould, and hurled it upwards through the vent-holesof the masonry in the form of impenetrable vapour. These artificialclouds unrolled their thick spirals as they went up to a height of 3,000feet into the air. Any Red Indian wandering upon the limits of thehorizon might have believed in the formation of a new crater in theheart of Florida, and yet it was neither an irruption, nor a typhoon,nor a storm, nor a struggle of the elements, nor one of those terriblephenomena which Nature is capable of producing. No; man alone hadproduced those reddish vapours, those gigantic flames worthy of avolcano, those tremendous vibrations like the shock of an earthquake,those reverberations, rivals of hurricanes and storms, and it was hishand which hurled into an abyss, dug by himself, a whole Niagara ofmolten metal!

CHAPTER XVI.

THE COLUMBIAD.

Had the operation of casting succeeded? People were reduced to mereconjecture. However, there was every reason to believe in its success,as the mould had absorbed the entire mass of metal liquefied in thefurnaces. Still it was necessarily a long time impossible to be certain.

In fact, when Major Rodman cast his cannon of 160,000 lbs., it took noless than a fortnight to cool. How long, therefore, would the monstrousColumbiad, crowned with its clouds of vapour, and guarded by its intenseheat, be kept from the eyes of its admirers? It was difficult toestimate.

The impatience of the members of the Gun Club was put to a rude testduring this lapse of time. But it could not be helped. J.T. Maston wasnearly roasted through his anxiety. A fortnight after the casting animmense column of smoke was still soaring towards the sky, and theground burnt the soles of the feet within a radius of 200 feet round thesummit of Stony Hill.

The days went by; weeks followed them. There were no means of coolingthe immense cylinder. It was impossible to approach it. The members ofthe Gun Club were obliged to wait with what patience they could muster.

"Here we are at the 10th of August," said J.T. Maston one morning. "Itwants hardly four months to the 1st of December! There still remains theinterior mould to be taken out, and the Columbiad to be loaded! We nevershall be ready! One cannot even approach the cannon! Will it never getcool? That would be a cruel deception!"

They tried to calm the impatient secretary without succeeding. Barbicanesaid nothing, but his silence covered serious irritation. To see himselfstopped by an obstacle that time alone could remove--time, an enemy tobe feared under the circumstances--and to be in the power of an enemywas hard for men of war.

However, daily observations showed a certain change in the state of theground. Towards the 15th of August the vapour thrown off had notablydiminished in intensity and thickness. A few days after the earth onlyexhaled a slight puff of smoke, the last breath of the monster shut upin its stone tomb. By degrees the vibrations of the ground ceased, andthe circle of heat contracted; the most impatient of the spectatorsapproached; one day they gained ten feet, the next twenty, and on the22nd of August Barbicane, his colleagues, and the engineer could taketheir place on the cast-iron surface which covered the summit of StonyHill, certainly a very healthy spot, where it was not yet allowed tohave cold feet.

"At last!" cried the president of the Gun Club with an immense sigh ofsatisfaction.

The works were resumed the same day. The extraction of the interiormould was immediately proceeded with in order to clear out the bore;pickaxes, spades, and boring-tools were set to work withoutintermission; the clay and sand had become exceedingly hard under theaction of the heat; but by the help of machines they cleared away themixture still burning at its contact with the iron; the rubbish wasrapidly carted away on the railway, and the work was done with suchspirit, Barbicane's intervention was so urgent, and his arguments,presented under the form of dollars, carried so much conviction, that onthe 3rd of September all trace of the mould had disappeared.

The operation of boring was immediately begun; the boring-machines wereset up without delay, and a few weeks later the interior surface of theimmense tube was perfectly cylindrical, and the bore had acquired a highpolish.

At last, on the 22nd of September, less than a year after the Barbicanecommunication, the enormous weapon, raised by means of delicateinstruments, and quite vertical, was ready for use. There was nothingbut the moon to wait for, but they were sure she would not fail.

J.T. Maston's joy knew no bounds, and he nearly had a frightful fallwhilst looking down the tube of 900 feet. Without Colonel Blomsberry'sright arm, which he had happily preserved, the secretary of the GunClub, like a modern Erostatus, would have found a grave in the depths ofthe Columbiad.

The cannon was then finished; there was no longer any possible doubt asto its perfect execution; so on the 6th of October Captain Nichollcleared off his debt to President Barbicane, who inscribed in hisreceipt-column a sum of 2,000 dollars. It may be believed that thecaptain's anger reached its highest pitch, and cost him an illness.Still there were yet three bets of 3,000, 4,000, and 5,000 dollars, andif he only gained 2,000, his bargain would not be a bad one, though notexcellent. But money did not enter into his calculations, and thesuccess obtained by his rival in the casting of a cannon against whichiron plates sixty feet thick would not have resisted was a terrible blowto him.

Since the 23rd of September the inclosure on Stony Hill had been quiteopen to the public, and the concourse of visitors will be readilyimagined.

In fact, innumerable people from all points of the United States flockedto Florida. The town of Tampa was prodigiously increased during thatyear, consecrated entirely to the works of the Gun Club; it thencomprised a population of 150,000 souls. After having surrounded FortBrooke in a network of streets it was now being lengthened out on thattongue of land which separated the two harbours of Espiritu-Santo Bay;new quarters, new squares, and a whole forest of houses had grown up inthese formerly-deserted regions under the heat of the American sun.Companies were formed for the erection of churches, schools, privatedwellings, and in less than a year the size of the town was increasedtenfold.

It is well known that Yankees are born business men; everywhere thatdestiny takes them, from the glacial to the torrid zone, their instinctfor business is usefully exercised. That is why simple visitors toFlorida for the sole purpose of following the operations of the Gun Cluballowed themselves to be involved in commercial operations as soon asthey were installed in Tampa Town. The vessels freighted for thetransport of the metal and the workmen had given unparalleled activityto the port. Soon other vessels of every form and tonnage, freightedwith provisions and merchandise, ploughed the bay and the two harbours;vast offices of shipbrokers and merchants were established in the town,and the _Shipping Gazette_ each day published fresh arrivals in the portof Tampa.

Whilst roads were multiplied round the town, in consequence of theprodigious increase in its population and commerce, it was joined byrailway to the Southern States of the Union. One line of rails connectedLa Mobile to Pensacola, the great southern maritime arsenal; thence fromthat important point it ran to Tallahassee. There already existed therea short line, twenty-one miles long, to Saint Marks on the seashore. Itwas this loop-line that was prolonged as far as Tampa Town, awakening inits passage the dead or sleeping portions of Central Florida. ThusTampa, thanks to these marvels of industry due to the idea born one lineday in the brain of one man, could take as its right the airs of a largetown. They surnamed it "Moon-City," and the capital of Florida sufferedan eclipse visible from all points of the globe.

Every one will now understand why the rivalry was so great between Texasand Florida, and the irritation of the Texicans when they saw theirpretensions set aside by the Gun Club. In their long-sighted sagacitythey had foreseen what a country might gain from the experimentattempted by Barbicane, and the wealth that would accompany such acannon-shot. Texas lost a vast centre of commerce, railways, and aconsiderable increase of population. All these advantages had been givento that miserable Floridian peninsula, thrown like a pier between thewaves of the Gulf and those of the Atlantic Ocean. Barbicane, therefore,divided with General Santa-Anna the Texan antipathy.

However, though given up to its commercial and industrial fury, the newpopulation of Tampa Town took care not to forget the interestingoperations of the Gun Club. On the contrary, the least details of theenterprise, every blow of the pickaxe, interested them. There was anincessant flow of people to and from Tampa Town to Stony Hill--a perfectprocession, or, better still, a pilgrimage.

It was already easy to foresee that the day of the experiment theconcourse of spectators would be counted by millions, for they camealready from all points of the earth to the narrow peninsula. Europe wasemigrating to America.

But until then, it must be acknowledged, the curiosity of the numerousarrivals had only been moderately satisfied. Many counted upon seeingthe casting who only saw the smoke from it. This was not much for hungryeyes, but Barbicane would allow no one to see that operation. Thereuponensued grumbling, discontent, and murmurs; they blamed the president forwhat they considered dictatorial conduct. His act was stigmatised as"un-American." There was nearly a riot round Stony Hill, but Barbicanewas not to be moved. When, however, the Columbiad was quite finished,this state of closed doors could no longer be kept up; besides, it wouldhave been in bad taste, and even imprudent, to offend public opinion.Barbicane, therefore, opened the inclosure to all comers; but, inaccordance with his practical character, he determined to coin money outof the public curiosity.

It was, indeed, something to even be allowed to see this immenseColumbiad, but to descend into its depths seemed to the Americans the_ne plus ultra_ of earthly felicity. In consequence there was not onevisitor who was not willing to give himself the pleasure of visiting theinterior of this metallic abyss. Baskets hung from steam-cranes allowedthem to satisfy their curiosity. It became a perfect mania. Women,children, and old men all made it their business to penetrate themysteries of the colossal gun. The price for the descent was fixed atfive dollars a head, and, notwithstanding this high charge, during thetwo months that preceded the experiment, the influx of visitors allowedthe Gun Club to pocket nearly 500,000 dollars!

It need hardly be said that the first visitors to the Columbiad were themembers of the Gun Club. This privilege was justly accorded to thatillustrious body. The ceremony of reception took place on the 25th ofSeptember. A basket of honour took down the president, J.T. Maston,Major Elphinstone, General Morgan, Colonel Blomsberry, and other membersof the Gun Club, ten in all. How hot they were at the bottom of thatlong metal tube! They were nearly stifled, but how delightful--howexquisite! A table had been laid for ten on the massive stone whichformed the bottom of the Columbiad, and was lighted by a jet of electriclight as bright as day itself. Numerous exquisite dishes, that seemed todescend from heaven, were successively placed before the guests, and therichest wines of France flowed profusely during this splendid repast,given 900 feet below the surface of the earth!

The festival was a gay, not to say a noisy one. Toasts were given andreplied to. They drank to the earth and her satellite, to the Gun Club,the Union, the Moon, Diana, Phoebe, Selene, "the peaceful courier of thenight." All the hurrahs, carried up by the sonorous waves of the immenseacoustic tube, reached its mouth with a noise of thunder; then themultitude round Stony Hill heartily united their shouts to those of theten revellers hidden from sight in the depths of the gigantic Columbiad.

J.T. Maston could contain himself no longer. Whether he shouted or ate,gesticulated or talked most would be difficult to determine. Any way hewould not have given up his place for an empire, "not even if thecannon--loaded, primed, and fired at that very moment--were to blow himin pieces into the planetary universe."

CHAPTER XVII.

A TELEGRAM.

The great work undertaken by the Gun Club was now virtually ended, andyet two months would still elapse before the day the projectile wouldstart for the moon. These two months would seem as long as two years tothe universal impatience. Until then the smallest details of eachoperation had appeared in the newspapers every day, and were eagerlydevoured by the public, but now it was to be feared that this "interestdividend" would be much diminished, and every one was afraid of nolonger receiving his daily share of emotions.

They were all agreeably disappointed: the most unexpected,extraordinary, incredible, and improbable incident happened in time tokeep up the general excitement to its highest pitch.

On September 30th, at 3.47 p.m., a telegram, transmitted through theAtlantic Cable, arrived at Tampa Town for President Barbicane.

He tore open the envelope and read the message, and, notwithstanding hisgreat self-control, his lips grew pale and his eyes dim as he read thetelegram.

The following is the text of the message stored in the archives of theGun Club:--

If this wonderful news, instead of coming by telegraph, had simplyarrived by post and in a sealed envelope--if the French, Irish,Newfoundland, and American telegraph clerks had not necessarily beenacquainted with it--Barbicane would not have hesitated for a moment. Hewould have been quite silent about it for prudence' sake, and in ordernot to throw discredit on his work. This telegram might be a practicaljoke, especially as it came from a Frenchman. What probability couldthere be that any man should conceive the idea of such a journey? And ifthe man did exist was he not a madman who would have to be inclosed in astrait-waistcoat instead of in a cannon-ball?

But the message was known, and Michel Ardan's proposition was alreadyall over the States of the Union, so Barbicane had no reason forsilence. He therefore called together his colleagues then in Tampa Town,and, without showing what he thought about it or saying a word about thedegree of credibility the telegram deserved, he read coldly the laconictext.

"Not possible!"--"Unheard of!"--"They are laughing atus!"--"Ridiculous!"--"Absurd!" Every sort of expression for doubt,incredulity, and folly was heard for some minutes with accompaniment ofappropriate gestures. J.T. Maston alone uttered the words:--

"That's an idea!" he exclaimed.

"Yes," answered the major, "but if people have such ideas as that theyought not to think of putting them into execution."

"Why not?" quickly answered the secretary of the Gun Club, ready for anargument. But the subject was let drop.

In the meantime Michel Ardan's name was already going about Tampa Town.Strangers and natives talked and joked together, not about theEuropean--evidently a mythical personage--but about J.T. Maston, who hadthe folly to believe in his existence. When Barbicane proposed to send aprojectile to the moon every one thought the enterprise natural andpracticable--a simple affair of ballistics. But that a reasonable beingshould offer to go the journey inside the projectile was a farce, or, touse a familiar Americanism, it was all "humbug."

This laughter lasted till evening throughout the Union, an unusual thingin a country where any impossible enterprise finds adepts and partisans.

Still Michel Ardan's proposition did not fail to awaken a certainemotion in many minds. "They had not thought of such a thing." How manythings denied one day had become realities the next! Why should not thisjourney be accomplished one day or another? But, any way, the man whowould run such a risk must be a madman, and certainly, as his projectcould not be taken seriously, he would have done better to be quietabout it, instead of troubling a whole population with such ridiculoustrash.

But, first of all, did this personage really exist? That was the greatquestion. The name of "Michel Ardan" was not altogether unknown inAmerica. It belonged to a European much talked about for his audaciousenterprises. Then the telegram sent all across the depths of theAtlantic, the designation of the ship upon which the Frenchman haddeclared he had taken his passage, the date assigned for hisarrival--all these circumstances gave to the proposition a certain airof probability. They were obliged to disburden their minds about it.Soon these isolated individuals formed into groups, the groups becamecondensed under the action of curiosity like atoms by virtue ofmolecular attraction, and the result was a compact crowd going towardsPresident Barbicane's dwelling.

The president, since the arrival of the message, had not said what hethought about it; he had let J.T. Maston express his opinions withoutmanifesting either approbation or blame. He kept quiet, proposing toawait events, but he had not taken public impatience into consideration,and was not very pleased at the sight of the population of Tampa Townassembled under his windows. Murmurs, cries, and vociferations soonforced him to appear. It will be seen that he had all the disagreeablesas well as the duties of a public man.

He therefore appeared; silence was made, and a citizen asked him thefollowing question:--"Is the person designated in the telegram as MichelArdan on his way to America or not?"

"Gentlemen," answered Barbicane, "I know no more than you."

"We must get to know," exclaimed some impatient voices.

"Time will inform us," answered the president coldly.

"Time has no right to keep a whole country in suspense," answered theorator. "Have you altered your plans for the projectile as the telegramdemanded?"

"Not yet, gentlemen; but you are right, we must have recourse to thetelegraph that has caused all this emotion."

"To the telegraph-office!" cried the crowd.

Barbicane descended into the street, and, heading the immenseassemblage, he went towards the telegraph-office.

A few minutes afterwards a telegram was on its way to the underwritersat Liverpool, asking for an answer to the following questions:--

"What sort of vessel is the _Atlanta_? When did she leave Europe? Hadshe a Frenchman named Michel Ardan on board?"

Two hours afterwards Barbicane received such precise information thatdoubt was no longer possible.

"The steamer _Atlanta_, from Liverpool, set sail on October 2nd forTampa Town, having on board a Frenchman inscribed in the passengers'book as Michel Ardan."

At this confirmation of the first telegram the eyes of the presidentwere lighted up with a sudden flame; he clenched his hands, and washeard to mutter--

"It is true, then! It is possible, then! the Frenchman does exist! andin a fortnight he will be here! But he is a madman! I never canconsent."

And yet the very same evening he wrote to the firm of Breadwill and Co.begging them to suspend the casting of the projectile until freshorders.

Now how can the emotion be described which took possession of the wholeof America? The effect of the Barbicane proposition was surpassedtenfold; what the newspapers of the Union said, the way they acceptedthe news, and how they chanted the arrival of this hero from the oldcontinent; how to depict the feverish agitation in which every onelived, counting the hours, minutes, and seconds; how to give even afeeble idea of the effect of one idea upon so many heads; how to showevery occupation being given up for a single preoccupation, workstopped, commerce suspended, vessels, ready to start, waiting in theports so as not to miss the arrival of the _Atlanta_, every species ofconveyance arriving full and returning empty, the bay of Espiritu-Santoincessantly ploughed by steamers, packet-boats, pleasure-yachts, andfly-boats of all dimensions; how to denominate in numbers the thousandsof curious people who in a fortnight increased the population of TampaTown fourfold, and were obliged to encamp under tents like an army incampaign--all this is a task above human force, and could not beundertaken without rashness.

At 9 a.m. on the 20th of October the semaphores of the Bahama Channelsignalled thick smoke on the horizon. Two hours later a large steamerexchanged signals with them. The name _Atlanta_ was immediately sent toTampa Town. At 4 p.m. the English vessel entered the bay ofEspiritu-Santo. At 5 p.m. she passed the entrance to Hillisboro Harbour,and at 6 p.m. weighed anchor in the port of Tampa Town.

The anchor had not reached its sandy bed before 500 vessels surroundedthe _Atlanta_ and the steamer was taken by assault. Barbicane was thefirst on deck, and in a voice the emotion of which he tried in vain tosuppress--

"Michel Ardan!" he exclaimed.

"Present!" answered an individual mounted on the poop.

Barbicane, with his arms crossed, questioning eyes, and silent mouth,looked fixedly at the passenger of the _Atlanta_.

He was a man forty-two years of age, tall, but already rather stooping,like caryatides which support balconies on their shoulders. His largehead shook every now and then a shock of red hair like a lion's mane; ashort face, wide forehead, a moustache bristling like a cat's whiskers,and little bunches of yellow hair on the middle of his cheeks, round andrather wild-looking, short-sighted eyes completed this eminently felinephysiognomy. But the nose was boldly cut, the mouth particularly humane,the forehead high, intelligent, and ploughed like a field that was neverallowed to remain fallow. Lastly, a muscular body well poised on longlimbs, muscular arms, powerful and well-set levers, and a decided gaitmade a solidly built fellow of this European, "rather wrought thancast," to borrow one of his expressions from metallurgic art.

The disciples of Lavater or Gratiolet would have easily deciphered inthe cranium and physiognomy of this personage indisputable signs ofcombativity--that is to say, of courage in danger and tendency toovercome obstacles, those of benevolence, and a belief in themarvellous, an instinct that makes many natures dwell much on superhumanthings; but, on the other hand, the bumps of acquisivity, the need ofpossessing and acquiring, were absolutely wanting.

To put the finishing touches to the physical type of the passenger ofthe _Atlanta_, his garments wide, loose, and flowing, open cravat, widecollar, and cuffs always unbuttoned, through which came nervous hands.People felt that even in the midst of winter and dangers that man wasnever cold.

On the deck of the steamer, amongst the crowd, he bustled about, neverstill for a moment, "dragging his anchors," in nautical speech,gesticulating, making friends with everybody, and biting his nailsnervously. He was one of those original beings whom the Creator inventsin a moment of fantasy, and of whom He immediately breaks the cast.

In fact, the character of Michel Ardan offered a large field forphysiological analysis. This astonishing man lived in a perpetualdisposition to hyperbole, and had not yet passed the age ofsuperlatives; objects depicted themselves on the retina of his eye withexaggerated dimensions; from thence an association of gigantic ideas; hesaw everything on a large scale except difficulties and men.

He was besides of a luxuriant nature, an artist by instinct, and wittyfellow; he loved arguments _ad hominem_, and defended the weak sidetooth and nail.

Amongst other peculiarities he gave himself out as "sublimely ignorant,"like Shakspeare, and professed supreme contempt for all _savants_,"people," said he, "who only score our points." He was, in short, aBohemian of the country of brains, adventurous but not an adventurer, aharebrained fellow, a Phaeton running away with the horses of the sun, akind of Icarus with relays of wings. He had a wonderful facility forgetting into scrapes, and an equally wonderful facility for getting outof them again, falling on his feet like a cat.

In short, his motto was, "Whatever it may cost!" and the love of theimpossible his "ruling passion," according to Pope's fine expression.

But this enterprising fellow had the defects of his qualities. Who risksnothing wins nothing, it is said. Ardan often risked much and gotnothing. He was perfectly disinterested and chivalric; he would not havesigned the death-warrant of his worst enemy, and would have sold himselfinto slavery to redeem a negro.

In France and Europe everybody knew this brilliant, bustling person. Didhe not get talked of ceaselessly by the hundred voices of Fame, hoarsein his service? Did he not live in a glass house, taking the entireuniverse as confidant of his most intimate secrets? But he alsopossessed an admirable collection of enemies amongst those he had cuffedand wounded whilst using his elbows to make a passage in the crowd.

Still he was generally liked and treated like a spoiled child. Every onewas interested in his bold enterprises, and followed them with uneasymind. He was known to be so imprudent! When some friend wished to stophim by predicting an approaching catastrophe, "The forest is only burntby its own trees," he answered with an amiable smile, not knowing thathe was quoting the prettiest of Arabian proverbs.

Such was the passenger of the _Atlanta_, always in a bustle, alwaysboiling under the action of inward fire, always moved, not by what hehad come to do in America--he did not even think about it--but onaccount of his feverish organisation. If ever individuals offered astriking contrast they were the Frenchman Michel Ardan and the YankeeBarbicane, both, however, enterprising, bold, and audacious, each in hisown way.

Barbicane's contemplation of his rival was quickly interrupted by thecheers of the crowd. These cries became even so frantic and theenthusiasm took such a personal form that Michel Ardan, after havingshaken a thousand hands in which he nearly left his ten fingers, wasobliged to take refuge in his cabin.

Barbicane followed him without having uttered a word.

"You are Barbicane?" Michel Ardan asked him as soon as they were alone,and in the same tone as he would have spoken to a friend of twentyyears' standing.